Newest For Sharing Reviews
Something About a Bear by Jackie Morris
I'm partial to a book about bears, as I've mentioned in previous reviews, so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I could give you a couple of paragraphs just on the cover art if you like! I'm not fussy about my bears in bear books...I'm not a purist, requiring that they all look like real bears, but in this book the illustrations are really wonderfully done. Mr Bear on the cover is a delightfully serious brown bear. I have a friend who declares picture books for children with artwork like this are wasted on small children, but I'd beg to disagree. I think that it's wonderful to be able to provide your child with a range of artistic styles to enjoy and appreciate. There's a place for the Gruffalo style, or Richard Scarry, but I think there's also a place for these books that are made of beautiful paintings. Full review...
The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf and Grandma's Wardrobe by Diane Fox and Christyan Fox
Have you ever sat down to read a story aloud to someone and found that they interrupt at every given opportunity, asking questions, making comments, and generally fidgeting with anything and everything? I'm sure if you've spent any time with a toddler then this will be a familiar experience. This story plays on that, with a cat trying, very hard, to tell a dog the story of Little Red Riding Hood. But dog can't sit still, and he wants to know what Red's superpower is, because if she has a cape she must be a superhero, and he's pretty sure that Red must have zapped the wolf with her kindness ray when she met him... Full review...
A Day at the Police Station by Richard Scarry
We like Richard Scarry books in our house. My 2 year old son has brought me the Busiest People Ever book to read more times than I'd care to think about, but actually I always enjoy it too because there are so many things to see and discuss and look for. The funny illustrations are usually the key selling point for me but actually, in this particular book, it was the story I liked. Full review...
Jampires by Sarah McIntyre and David O'Connell
Jampires is a great book explaining why some of your doughnuts might not be as jammy as you’d perhaps like. This is a really funny premise for a children’s book and I really did enjoy reading it, on the whole. Full review...
The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake
I was utterly intrigued by the idea of a follow up to the wonderful Edward Lear poem, The Owl and the Pussy-cat. I thought it might have the feel that some follow ups by different authors might have, but I was very pleasantly surprised. If anybody was going to be able to write verse that could live up to the original, Julia Donaldson was, and she did. Full review...
Bears Don't Read! by Emma Chichester Clark
I'm a sucker for bear stories. I find that I am very rarely disappointed by a book with a bear in it. Certainly, this particular bear book is charming, with lots of appeal for both bear-lovers and book-lovers too! George is no common bear, oh no. He's the sort of bear who sits on a bench, thinking about the meaning of life. No longer wanting to do the usual bear sort of things, he feels that he needs more...but what can he do? One day he happens to stumble upon a book and, with it, the new ambition for his life. George needs to learn how to read! Full review...
Line Up, Please! by Tomoko Ohmura
I was intrigued by the beginning of this book, which starts with a sign declaring that 'the line starts here' and below that is a frog, labelled as being a from, and he also has a number 50 beneath him. What is going on? Turning the page we see that there is a queue of animals, and that each animal is named and numbered, with the numbers decreasing from 50 downwards. From the start this is the perfect book for a child obsessed with all the different animal species you can name. There's everything in this queue from moles and guinea pigs to an armadillo, a sloth and a wombat! Full review...
Doughnuts for a Dragon by Adam Guillain, Charlotte Guillain and Lee Wildish
Doughnuts for a Dragon does pretty much what it says on the tin, with George heading off on a mission to find a dragon. In Marshmallows for Martians he built himself a spaceship in order to hunt for extraterrestrial life, but this time his plan requires a time machine - I mean, how else are you going to find a Dragon? Full review...
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
Sam and Dave are digging a hole, and they’re sure they’re going to find something spectacular. But the more they dig, the more they keep missing all the spectacular stuff, not that they know it. This is an interesting book which requires a pretty good attention span to fully appreciate it. It has that thing that is so often missing in picture books; it is just that bit different, which I always appreciate. Full review...
Pete the Cat and the New Guy by Kimberly Dean and James Dean
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons was an instant and complete hit in my household when I reviewed it for The Bookbag a few months ago, and it has continued to be so ever since. So I was very excited to receive Pete’s latest adventure, Pete the Cat and the New Guy. It is a lot longer than the last book, but this is not a bad thing and only serves to back up my opinion that these books are suitable for a wide range of reading ages. Full review...
A Scarf and a Half by Amanda Brandon and Catalina Echeverri
A Scarf and a Half follows the story of Little Lionel, whose Granny just loves to knit. When she knits him a scarf for his birthday, he just can’t help but be disappointed, after all it isn’t a nice bouncy ball. But it isn’t just any old scarf, Granny loves knitting so much that it’s a scarf and a half, and luckily for Lionel his friends are on hand to show him just how many different uses it could have. Full review...
Willy The Wimp by Anthony Browne
Willy is a mild mannered chimp. He apologises even when it is not his fault, which is most of the time. In the mean streets of town, his timid manner, Fair Isle tank top and Oxford brogues mark him out as an easy target for the gorilla gang. That is until the day he spots a mail order advertisement which guarantees a transformation from wimp to loud talking, sand kicking, muscle bulging man. Willy sends off the coupon, some cash and then waits… Full review...
Melissa's Octopus and other Unsuitable Pets by Charlotte Voake
Melissa has a pet octopus. He’s splendid, but not exactly the most suitable of pets. But what other unsuitable pets do Melissa’s friends have, and which is the most unsuitable of all? Full review...
Belle and Boo and the Very Merry Christmas by Mandy Sutcliffe
In the world of children’s literature you have to get your winter solstice books out early if you want to stand out in the crowd. Before you can release a Christmas book though, it would help if all the characters knew what Christmas was. Thankfully, Boo need not worry for too long as Belle is on hand to tell him exactly what to do. Full review...
Jolly Snowmen by Ned Taylor
Snowmen are universally adored. Everyone I know who picked up this book, young and old, went Oooh, snowmen! There’s something so cheerful about this precious, somewhat rare creature, and the likes of Frozen have cemented this in the minds of the latest generation. A book about two balls of icy snow doesn't sound much, but add a scarf, coal eyes and a carrot nose, and the transformation is astonishing. Full review...
Tin by Chris Judge
When Tin agrees to look after Nickel for the afternoon, you can tell he really just wants her to play peacefully while he reads his comic. But little sisters have a habit of not doing what you want, and before he knows it, Tin is up off his sun lounger and racing after Nickel to keep her from danger. As he and Zinc the dog chase after her, they find themselves in an adventure of their own in the big city. Full review...
It's an Orange Aadvark! by Michael Hall
A group of ants decide to drill through their tree stump in order to give themselves a window to the outside world. The more they drill, the more colours they find, and the more whacky and wild ideas they come up with for what they mind find outside the safety of their home. Full review...
Yuck! Said the Yak by Alex English and Emma Levey
Yuck! Said the Yak is a great, fun book for young listeners. Alfie is trying desperately to find something which his hungry Yak friend will want to eat, but he doesn’t really think about what a Yak will want, and so all the Yak can say is Yuck! Full review...
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Britta Teckentrup
You know the song already, but this peep-through book recreates the magic of the Twelve Days of Christmas in a beautiful and special way. Full review...
Surprise by Jonathan Litton and Fhiona Galloway
Pass the Parcel is a timeless classic for any occasion, be it a birthday or, as in this book, Christmas time. But have you ever played it in a book before? No? Keep reading. Full review...
Your Hand in My Hand by Mark Sperring and Britta Teckentrup
When I was young my Mum always wanted me to come over for a lean or hold her hand if we were walking. I would be asked how much I loved her and I would reply, This Much whilst stretching out my arms as far as they would go. It seems that my Mum was quite a sentimental person, so this book would have been perfect for her to read to me before bed. Full review...
Baker Cat by Posy Simmonds
Poor cat! All day long he works for the mean baker and his equally unpleasant wife in the bakery, mixing, baking, chopping, slicing and sweeping while the baker grumbles. Then at night the exhausted cat, without any supper, is expected to catch the mice that run riot in the storeroom. Unfortunately he is not a particularly successful mouse catcher. Eventually the poor cat, denied even a name by his miserable owners, becomes thin, sad and weepy and slumps in despair. It is then that the mice take pity on him and concoct a clever plan to help him. Full review...
Hooray for Hat by Brian Won
Helping someone is a great way to make them feel good and what better way to do this than providing a novelty hat? I can think of a few things myself, but for Elephant, Zebra, Turtle and the rest of their pals; hat-giving is the joy de jour. Full review...
The Oxford Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Sarah Williams and Karen King
When it comes to nursery rhymes, what you learn at your Mother’s knee as a baby is gospel. Recently I have expanded my repertoire courtesy of Cheshire libraries excellent rhyme time activities, but at heart I still can't quite come to terms with the librarian saying 'washed the spider out as opposed to my mum’s washed poor Incey out'. Sadly, Williams’ and King’s compendium The Oxford Treasury of Nursery Rhymes doesn’t take my Mum’s side in this. Full review...
Snow by Walter de la Mare
This is a classic poem which has been brought to life in a lovely picture book which is perfect for the run up to Christmas and close after. It captures perfectly the sense of joy around Christmas for young children. Full review...
Dinosaur Poo! by Christyan Fox and Diane Fox
There are two things that I find are always popular topics when it comes to young children; dinosaurs, and poo. This book takes that very much to the next level in this rhyming book all about dinosaur poo. It does what it says on the tin. Full review...
Winnie's Big Bad Robot by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
Winnie the Witch is something of an institution in children’s literature these days, and with good reason. From the very first book in the series Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul managed to capture a wonderful sense of fun, mischief and adventure. This addition to the series is no exception. Full review...
On Sudden Hill by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies (Illustrator)
Birt and Etho are best friends. They spend hours together playing on Sudden Hill. Usually they play with large cardboard boxes imagining that they are pirates, or soldiers or maybe kings but always they are the best of friends. Then one day another little boy, Shu, brings his box to Sudden Hill and asks if he can play too. The three boys sit in their boxes together and imagine that they are dragon slayers or skyscraper dancers but Birt feels strange. He misses the two-by-two rhythm he had shared with Etho. Can the boys make a friendship of two become three? Full review...
Never too Small by Zanib Mian and Laura Ewing Ferrer
There was once a young boy who didn't try to do things because he felt that he was too small, but he was lucky. He had a good friend and that friend wrote him a letter to tell him that people are never too small, or too big, or too old to try something new. There was also a little girl and she was afraid of the dark. It was her brother who wrote her a letter to tell her that he would always be there for her. There was the boy who wouldn't try new things to eat, the young girl who was afraid of heights, a boy who was terrified about going to school and a girl who was frightened of spiders. They all had that special someone who took the time to write them the letter which gave them the confidence to overcome their fears. Full review...
Bing: Make Music by Ted Dewan
Round the corner, Not far away… These are the words I hear in my living room most afternoons followed by 6 minutes and 30 seconds of silence from my boy. I could take advantage and get on with some urgent tasks but, truth be told, I’m happy to snuggle up and drink in the rich artwork that is Bing Bunny brought to life on CBeebies. Unusually, Bing on the box was born out of Bing the book. Also, unusually, my local library have no Bing books so Bing: Make Music was my first experience of the Bingster (as he is known to his fans) confined to paper. There on the first page, just like on CBeebies, were the magic opening words followed by… Bing’s been bongo- ing all day. Full review...
The Five of Us by Quentin Blake
Five friends set off on an outing, complete with yellow bus and sandwiches. There was Angie who could see a sparrow from five miles away. Ollie could hear it sneeze. Simona and Mario were so strong that they could lift anything. They were all amazing. Then there was Eric, but Eric wasn't quite certain if he excelled at anything. Big Eddie was driving the bus and after they had eaten their sandwiches Big Eddie suddenly took a funny turn. What were The Five to do? Well, they set off with Simona and Mario carrying Eddie (and, by gosh, he is big) but suddenly they came to the banks of a big river - and this was when Eric discovered exactly why he is amazing. Full review...
Foxy and Egg by Alex T Smith
Long-time lovers of thebookbag.co.uk may find something familiar about the tale of Foxy DeBois who invites a young egg into her house for a meal. What can this sense of déjà vu be? More than likely you read the earlier review by our own Keith Dudhnath on Egg. With the success of Foxy in the intervening years, the book has been renamed and re-released, but does it remain as fun? Full review...
You Can Do It, Bert! by Ole Konnecke
It's very rare that I get my hands on a Gecko Press picture book and find I don't like it. They seem to publish lots of unusual, entertaining books that become firm favourites on our bookshelves. This one is no exception. Bert is a plump little birdie, standing on a branch, facing his big day. Can he? Will he? Should he jump? Full review...
Betty Goes Bananas by Steve Antony
This is a simple, repetitive book with a circular tale: Betty wants something, she doesn’t get it and so she cries and kicks and screams until someone helps her. If that makes you think that tantrums are being rewarded, in a way you’d be right, but Mr Toucan, her repeated saviour, is keen to show her how to do things rather than just do them for her. Teach a man to fish and he’ll never go hungry, teach a chimp to peel a banana and she’ll be happy, for a while at least. Full review...
